THE ANC made a clean-sweep in yesterday’s by-elections.
The Electoral Commission of South Africa (IEC) this morning released the results of the by-elections which took place in KwaZulu-Natal, Mpumalanga and North West.
The seats became available after the resignation of former councillors.
The new ANC councillors are as follows:
- Ward 1 in uBuhlebezwe Municipality in Ixopo, KZN, was won by Lindokuhle Siphamandla Nicholas Mbele.
The IEC said the party retained the seat it won in the 2021 local government polls, by winning 59.50% of the total votes cast compared to 72.12% in the November elections. Voter turnout yesterday was 48.07%.
- In Mpumalanga, Godfrey Mashego secured ward 14 in the Bushbuckridge Municipality.
In that ward, the ANC retained the seat it won in November with 73.84% of the total votes cast compared to 68.87% in the last year’s elections. Voter turnout yesterday was 32.85%.
- In North West, Abigail Mothupi won ward 2 in Motlosana Municipality.
The ANC secured 60.20% of the total votes cast compared to 76.03% in the 2021 municipal elections. Voter turnout yesterday was 40.61%.
The IEC said the Electoral Court had agreed to the postponement beyond the 90-day period of the uMdoni ward by-election that was scheduled for yesterday owing to challenges with the voters’ roll that was detected by a contesting political party.
The by-election was going to take place after the former DA councillor won the ward from the ANC by 37 votes in the November 2021 elections and then resigned after he voted in support of the ANC mayoral candidate.
The DA had raised concerns about 235 additional voters that had been added to the voters’ roll during the registration weekend in January 2022.
The DA claimed that many, if not all of these voters did not live in the ward and had been bused in from neighbouring wards, including Umzumbe, and from as far as the Eastern Cape.
A new date for the uMdoni by-election has yet to be announced.
THE MERCURY